Ministry brought advisory on AI in interest of citizens' safety: Ashwini Vaishnaw

New Delhi [India], March 4 : The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology's (MeitY) recent advisory on Artificial Intelligence was brought in not from a regulatory mindset but for the interest of citizens safety, Union Minister for Information and Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Monday.
"This is necessary for the safety of citizens. It is necessary for the safety of the democratic process. That is why such an advisory has been issued. Wherever there is a model, test it properly and implement it only after testing," the minister said during an event in New Delhi.
"This is applicable to the models who are being posted on social media platforms. Its applicability is not for those who are working on AI in sectors like healthcare or agriculture," he asserted.
"This is required because you all have seen how the models were implemented without thorough testing and many people have later come and apologized that we did not test the complete model and uploaded it first."
He further informed that social media platforms operating in India are also taking cognisance of this and they were taking many steps which are prevent any misinformation and misuse of AI and deepfakes.
In an advisory issued on March 1, 2024, the Ministry reportedly said all artificial intelligence (AI) models, large-language models (LLMs), software using generative AI or any algorithms that are currently being tested, are in the beta stage of development or are unreliable in any form must seek "explicit permission of the government of India" before being deployed for users on the Indian internet.
In the advisory, the Ministry asked all platforms to ensure that "their computer resources do not permit any bias or discrimination or threaten the integrity of the electoral process" by the use of AI, generative AI, LLMs or any such other algorithm.
"Recent advisory of @GoI_MeitY needs to be understood. Advisory is aimed at the Significant platforms and permission seeking from Meity is only for large platforms and will not apply to startups," the Minister said in a post on X on Monday, attaching a media report filed basis the March 1 advisory.
In the X post, the minister said the Advisory was aimed at untested AI platforms from deploying on the Indian Internet.
"Process of seeking permission, labelling & consent-based disclosure to the user about untested platforms is an insurance policy to platforms who can otherwise be sued by consumers," the minister further clarified, stressing that safety and trust of India's internet is a shared and common goal for government, users and platforms.
India's stance has always been that the internet and every other emerging technology should be deployed in a "safe and trusted" manner.